Thirsty
by stnaley
Summary: The second rebellion failed. President Paylor has reinstated The Hunger Games under a new title: The Thirst Games.
1. Tribute List

Since I'm jumping straight into the Games, here is the tribute list. I've asked my followers on Twitter to submit tributes, so that explains the usernames.

DISTRICT 1

MALE: dauntlesspeeta – Golden Blight

FEMALE: MrsLokiMellark – Lokie Hellington

DISTRICT 2

MALE: PeetasCupcakes – Tinly Pack

FEMALE: KnivesTakeLives – Flic Hart

DISTRICT 3

MALE: FirejayCatcher – Ciaran Waterfield

FEMALE: THGAnnie4 – Pandora Weaver

DISTRICT 4

MALE: AllAboutCT – Alec Hale

FEMALE: N4kedFinnick – Opal Loveguard

DISTRICT 5

MALE: HutchingAround – Franklin Tetron

FEMALE: CashmerePN1 – Charym Rhodium

DISTRICT 6

MALE: TogetherAlways_ - Speedy Playn

FEMALE: PeetasLoafs – Logane Shrapton

DISTRICT 7

MALE: stuartkp – Aspen Whitlock

FEMALE: JHutchFucksMe – Twig Oakley

DISTRICT 8

MALE: NightlockAddict – Audire Mentem

FEMALE: TeriHasAHickey – Kalehela Silver

DISTRICT 9

MALE: FlirtySnares – Gale Hunter

FEMALE: CaptainRiri – Danielle Levine

DISTRICT 10

MALE: JaysBitchh – Persei Winters

FEMALE: Victoria_456 – Skye Armstrong

DISTRICT 11

MALE: MockingJayke_ - Krush Dirrot

FEMALE: CatchingTobias – Ravena Raven

DISTRICT 12

MALE: eatmynightlock – Raysha Faydew

FEMALE: JRH_AND_HG – Domitia Wellwood


	2. Day 1

If the last two Games were tough, these are going to be devastating.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Third Annual Thirst Games begin!"

The camera pans out to show the arena to the citizens of Panem. The tributes stand around the Cornucopia, as always, on a pedestal. This pedestal is raised 10 kilometres above ground. It is made entirely of rock, with bushes and boulders strewn here and there. If one looked off the edge, the floor wouldn't be visible. Clouds are all to be seen for miles below.

Thirty seconds.

Around this pedestal are hundreds of others, in varying sizes and shapes. Rickety wooden bridges lead from one to the next, providing paths for the tributes to traverse. In the distance, three or four forested spires can be seen. Water is mostly on the larger rock platforms further out, in small pools or the occasional stream.

The sun blazes in the sky, burning down on the tributes. It looks a lot larger from this high up.

A few tributes gaze around, taking in their surroundings. The Careers spot each other and nod curtly to one another. They're all fairly close to the mouth of the Cornucopia.

Ten seconds.

The boy from 10, Persei, is fiddling with his token, a bracelet from his sister. It glints slightly in the sunlight. Golden, from 1, eyes him cautiously.

The gong sounds, and the Career pack charge from their launch plates toward the enormous horn. Persei catches up with Golden and tears the bracelet from his wrist, revealing a piece of glass hidden inside. Golden only has a second to contemplate how he slipped that past the Gamemakers before the glass cuts across his wrist. He screams out in pain and Persei jumps on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

"Get off me you filthy cowboy!"

"Oh is the pretty boy gonna cry?" Persei stares down evilly, a smirk taking over his lips. Being shorter than Golden should have made him the weaker combatant here, but he has the upper hand. He holds the shard of glass to Golden's neck. "Say goodb-"

Persei's words are cut off as the shield flies at his face, denting his forehead and crushing his brain. He flops to the side, bleeding profusely from his skull. Golden stands, clutching his wrist, he grabs the shield and runs to his district partner, Lokie.

"Thanks," he pants, as Lokie nods and grabs the nearest backpack. She drags him into the Cornucopia and bandages up his wrist hastily.

Tinly and Flic, from 2, are standing guard. They hold a hammer and a sword respectively. Both tributes from 4 rush up to meet them and grab their own weapons. They all keep a defensive stance, but are unaware that someone has already slipped past them.

Skye, the girl from Ten, just saw her district partner taken down by Lokie. She's hidden at the back of the Cornucopia, clutching two push daggers to her chest.

"You'll be fine, can you hold a sword now?" Lokie says, handing the aforementioned weapon to Golden.

"Thanks," Golden kisses her cheek and goes to rise, as Skye pushes out from behind the boxes and runs toward Lokie with her daggers raised.

"Die, bitch!"

"Move!" Golden shouts, pushing Lokie to the floor. He swings his sword and drives it through the chest of the redhead. She coughs out a mouthful of blood and it sprays over him. Her eyes flutter closed as he tears the sword from her body and helps Lokie to her feet.

"Sorry for being so forceful."

"It's okay, now we're even." She winks playfully and pulls him to join their allies.

It seems no other tributes have cared to venture too close to the Cornucopia, still shocked at their surroundings. Having realised this, Tinly, Alec and Opal leave their allies to decrease the amount of remaining competition.

Kalehela is scrambling about on the floor trying to decide which backpack is the best choice when Opal steps in her path. The girl from 8 flips backwards and snatches whatever is nearest to her, which is heavier than she thought it would be. She swings it round and it collides with Opal's head, knocking her to the side.

It only deters her for a moment, though, because Opal tumbles forward and twirls with her mace in hand. Kalehela's legs fly from beneath her, mid-flip, and her head bashes heavily into the stone. Stars dance in front of her eyes and she giggles uneasily.

She glances down to her wrist, where her grandmother's sash is tied.

"I'm sorry, Grandma."

Her skull is smashed inward as Opal hits ferociously with her mace. The numerous holes in Kalehela's head sprout blood instantly, but Opal swings some more to be sure. By the time she's done, Kalehela is an unrecognisable mess.

The District 6 tributes may have been dressed as planes on their chariot but not even those wings would help them here. The boy, Speedy, runs through some bushes in an attempt to reach the nearest bridge. A hand reaches out and grabs his ankle. Danielle from 9 pulls Speedy to the floor and climbs on top of him.

"Hey cutie." The most horrible look crosses her face as she lifts the weapon still hidden in the bush. Her hammer gleams in the sunlight.

"Please," Speedy says.

"Why? So you can kill me later on? I don't think so, kid."

"No, we can ally!"

Speedy's final thought is the irony in Danielle's necklace. It's a symbol he remembers as symbolising peace.

First his jaw is broken with the hammer, and when he screams, a painful, choked noise comes out. His tongue has been torn. Blood gushes into his throat and threatens to choke him slowly. But he's put of his misery as the second swing from the hammer breaks his nose and goes straight through his head, clanging off the stone below.

Danielle stands up, admiring her kill.

In a flash, Tinly tackles her to the ground and punches her in the nose. He batters her some more and doesn't stop until she's unmoving. He gets off her body and gives her a final kick in the ribs for good measure. He takes her hammer from her fist and leaves.

The District 11 tributes agreed to not kill one another. Sticking to their agreement, they've both fled the scene with backpacks and headed in opposite directions, taking separate bridges and wishing good luck to each other.

Meanwhile, Alec has clashed with Pandora from 3. She wields two push daggers with ease, seemingly having shown less talent in training. Her blades glance off his own wooden staff as the collide and she dodges his moves with somewhat expert speed. But he didn't get a 10 for just about anything.

He lands a hit to her neck and while she's clutching it, he flicks the staff and knocks a dagger from her grip, sending it skittering across the floor.

"Nice move," Pandora says, smirking.

"Shut up." Alec spins and whips his staff around, bringing it round to impact against Pandora's stomach, thrusting her into the air and backwards. She gets up quickly but realises what the boy is trying to do. He's trying to drive her off the edge of the rock shelf. Pandora ducks to avoid his next swing, and thrusts forward with her dagger tucked between her middle and forefinger.

She isn't fast enough.

Alec steps up onto her back with the staff behind his own, sending it forward as he propels himself backwards. The staff slams into Pandora's face and she topples back again. She's right on the edge now. One false move and she's done.

However, what happens next is totally unexpected.

Aspen from 7 flings two hatchets in the direction of the fighting pair. One slices through Pandora's neck. Her head drops from her body and rolls off the edge of the Cornucopia's shelf, swallowed by the cloudy depths. After a second, her sapphire necklace slips off her neck and follows her head in its exact path. The sight is marvellously eery.

Alec dodges the second with a magnificent backflip and proceeds to perform a whole gymnastic routine to dodge an array of hatchets sent straight for him by Aspen. He manages to leap behind the Cornucopia just as one of the small axes lodges in the golden horn.

Knowing it's time to leave, Aspen hastily gathers his remaining weapons and the closest backpack and flees down a bridge.

Domitia, the girl from 12, has Charym, the girl from 5, towering over her holding a hammer.

"Please, please don't hurt me! I can help you win! We get to the final two and I'll let you win!"

"I'm not stupid, bitch."

"I'm serious!" Those sly, puppy-dog eyes would convince anyone.

"Fine." Charym reaches down and helps Domitia up. "Let's go." Charym turns to leave, but Domitia has other ideas. She jumps on Charym's back and slams her face into the stone.

"I- thought- you- weren't- stupid!" Domitia yells, bashing Charym's head into the ground with each word. She continues until Charym stops twitching, blood splattering and pooling out onto the floor below her. Domitia yanks the hammer from Charym's clenched hand and drives it down through her chest.

"That'll teach you."

"Nice."

Domitia whips round to see Flic standing behind her.

"Pl-"

"Oh, shut up." Flic swings down with her sword and slices across Domitia's shins.

"Please!" Domitia screams.

"I'm serious, bitch, shut UP!" Flic swings again and this time the sword tears through the arm Domitia was using to hold the hammer. As she screams in pain, Flic continues to wave her blade. She stabs it into Domitia's opposing shoulder and drags it down her other arm, tearing it clean in half, making sure to split her middle finger. Domitia's screams continue.

As this is happening, the Careers gather around Flic to watch the show.

Taking the distraction as their chance, the remaining tributes rush to the Cornucopia and snatch whatever they can. Ciaran from 3 and Franklin from 5 have allied; they grab a spool of wire, two backpacks, a pair of gauntlets and a wooden staff. They cross a bridge that they hope will lead them to one of the few forests. The small twelve year-old boy from 8, Audire, gets in and out unnoticed, sneaking from a patch of boulders behind the Cornucopia and rushing off with just a backpack. Too scared to approach the other tributes, Logane from 6 takes one of the outlying backpacks and runs away as fast as she can.

Twig, District 7, is clambering over some of the boxes in the Cornucopia when a hand grabs her shoulder.

"Hey get o-" Another hand covers her mouth and turns her round. Gale, the boy from 9, puts a finger to his lips and points behind him. Raysha, the boy from 12, is throwing backpacks and boxes all around him in an attempt to find something.

"Arrrgh! Where is it? Where is it?!" A box comes close to hitting Gale, but he ducks in time.

"Hey, moron." Gale steps from his spot and walks toward the angry Seam boy, with his hands behind his back. Twig tries to see what he's holding but she can't get a good view.

"What? What do you fucking want?" Raysha turns round, spitting as he speaks.

"Oh, nothing. I think I found what you're looking for though."

"Give me it then." Raysha leans forward eagerly.

"Sure." Gale lets the push dagger drop from his sleeve and clutches the handle between his fingers. His hand flies from behind him and the weapon impales Raysha's heart. Twig squeaks and runs from her hiding place to join Gale. He grabs her hand and the two run from the scene, letting Raysha die slowly.

As they leave, a groan is heard, as well as the shaking of a bridge. They ignore it and race of with a backpack each.

The Careers are still watching Flic finish off Domitia. The pool of blood is a clear indication that she's already dead, but Flic is having fun. Gashes line every inch of the deceased girls body.

"Come on Flic, she's done." Tinly puts a hand on her shoulder and Flic stops. The Careers stop laughing and another groan sounds.

"What was that?" Opal says, turning this way and that.

"Over there!" Golden raises his uninjured arm and points to the bridge by the bushes. It shakes with the wind at this height, but there's a trail of blood leading to it. It seems someone has dragged him or herself to the bridge in an attempt to escape.

"It's that bitch from 9," Tinly shouts, "but she was dead!"

"Obviously not, idiot." Alec says, lifting a hand to cover the grin on his face.

Tinly rushes over to the bridge and starts to smack at the holding posts with his hammer.

"Stop!" Lokie yells. "What if we have to go that way?"

"There's nothing leading from that platform, it's fine." Tinly replies. "Besides, if she dies, we'll be closer to victory. Well, I will."

A couple of his allies scoff, but let him have his moment. More groans come from Danielle as she crawls further across the bridge, having almost reached the opposite pedestal.

Golden rushes over to the other holding post and swings his sword at the rope, sending the bridge flopping to the left. Danielle is unable to even scream as she topples from the bridge into the ocean of clouds.

"Is that all of them?" Golden asks, turning to his allies. They glance around before nodding in unison. "Then let's get everything organised. We'll stay here tonight and hunt tomorrow."

The other tributes travel all day, but the arena is much larger than they'd first realised. By the time the sun sets, only the Careers have shelter. None of the other tributes have found anything to keep them secure for the night, so most of them end up staying awake, continuing their journeys.

When the anthem plays, everyone turns their attention to the sky which... is everywhere.

District 3 – Pandora

District 5 – Charym

District 6 – Speedy

District 8 – Kalehela

District 9 – Danielle

District 10 – Persei

District 10 – Skye

District 12 - Raysha

District 12 - Domitia

Having spent the whole day travelling, Ciaran and Franklin arrive at a 50-feet-wide spire a fair distance from the Cornucopia. They fill their canteens with water from a small pool and plopping in some purifying tablets.

"So what's the plan?" Ciaran says, after greedily gulping down some water.

"You'll see, man, just wait." Franklin looks up to the stars and winks. The Gamemakers already know what he's capable of, and he's going to do them proud.


	3. Day 2

It's early morning. Franklin has yet to sleep. He kept watch whilst Ciaran slept through the night, after confirming that their spire was safe enough to stay on. By some luck, they got through the night undetected and without any confrontations with other tributes. During his continued waking hours, Franklin spent time working on his plan. So far he's fixed wires inside one of the gauntlets and manage to create what he'd shown in his private training session. It's very impressive.

* * *

There's not a cloud in the sky. Well, there is, they're just below the arena. The stars twinkle in the dim pre-dawn light.

Aspen stumbles across the final plank of bridge and through a patch of bushes. He's reached his destination. He'd set his sights on one of the far out forest islands. He scans the platform quickly and realises it is at least a mile in circumference. His ears prick up as he hears a sound he didn't think possible in this place. Rushing water. He runs, dehydrated, to the source of the sound. Ahead of him, pouring out of a small cave opening in the centre of the platform, is a river. It's not too wide or deep to be dangerous, and if he wants to pass, he can just walk across the cave roof. But the most magnificent sight comes a moment later.

Dawn breaks over the clouds. Light washes over the arena and bounces off the river. Aspen follows the river and spots the cut-off. The waterfall is a gorgeous sight to behold. The rainbow that is created is even more stunning.

Aspen sits on the riverbank to admire the view, dangling his legs off the edge of the platform. There are numerous other rocky spires dotted around his. He has a perfect view of his surroundings. He's at an advantage here.

* * *

Meanwhile, Logane is also watching the sunrise. She's concealed in a patch of bushes she'd leapt into during the night, not caring if anything lurked in their depths. Luckily for her, she was left alone.

Logane rubs her eyes. The lack of sleep is evident, and the puffiness from hours of crying only makes things worse. She rustles the leaves back to their place and settles into the bushes once more. She rearranges the contents of her backpack – a still-empty water bottle, a pack of beef strips, a roll of bandages, some gauze and a stitching kit – for the dozenth time.

She sits quietly in her hiding place, clutching at her shark tooth necklace. Having been worried that the Gamemakers would take away her token, as it could be considered a weapon, she feels lucky that she was allowed to keep it. Holding it tightly, she remembers the message it holds. The bravery her mother must have mustered to pull this tooth from the beast that killed her. The reason Logane and her father had to relocate from District 4 to District 6.

Wiping away the tears once more, Logane squeezes the token until her hand starts to bleed. It's a minor scratch so it doesn't bother her. But now she knows she can't sit around crying anymore. That's not what her mother would want. She has to fight.

* * *

Little Audire, from 8, is nestled in a bundle of boulders. They're tightly packed so he's certain they won't cave in anytime soon.

"I'll be okay, I'll be fine," he says, whilst snapping his token bracelet against his wrist. He hasn't cried yet, and he isn't going to. He's strong, smart, and more determined than a twelve year-old has ever been in these Games. He knows he stands no chance against the Careers, so he's steering well clear of them. So clear, in fact, that he's reached the edge of the arena, and is on the outermost platform.

Readjusting his glasses, he looks at the objects he's attained. He has a number of useful objects: a seven-metre long rope; two full bottles of water; a pack of beef strips; two slices of bread; three apples; and a variety of sharp rocks he collected on his journey yesterday. He also has a sleeping bag, but that's laid off to the side.

Audire has his plan worked out. Now he just has to put it in action.

* * *

Inside the Cornucopia, all but two of the Careers sleep. Opal sits at the entrance, having been keeping watch for the last hour or so. Only her silhouette is visible in the light from the rising sun, but Lokie doesn't need to see her to hear what she's saying.

"I'll be back soon, Mom. I'll win this and get you fixed up. I'll save you, I promise."

Lokie gasps.

Opal turns quickly, but Lokie has already flipped over. She hasn't been caught.

* * *

In another of a few small forests, Gale and Twig rest in a dug-out hollow beneath a tree. Twig is already awake. Despite having been given the only sleeping bag between them, she barely slept. Confusion ate at her thoughts. She didn't understand why Gale helped her escape. She hadn't even spoken to him in training.

"Uh... Twig..."

Twig yawns, feigning drowsiness. But there's no need

"Yeah... there..."

"What the..."

Gale is dreaming. And judging by the bump in his trousers, it's a pleasant one.

"Oh!" Twig shuffles away in her sleeping bag. She's never seen a guy so 'happy' before.

The verbal expression of shock is enough to wake Gale. He rubs his eyes and yawns sleepily. He looks around and smiles at Twig.

"Hey, you."

Twig just nods in the direction of his... you know.

"What? Oh. Like what you see?"

"You're disgusting." Twig rolls over. Gale lifts himself so he's resting on his elbows.

"Yeah, but I'm hot, too. And I saved your life, let's not forget that."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"But you accepted it anyway."

Twig gags and rolls over so she isn't facing him.

"So..." she says, trying to skip this awkward moment, "what're we going to do today?"

Gale sits up and leans against the wall of the den. The sunlight breaks through the small opening they crawled through the night before, so it's gradually getting brighter.

"I suppose we could hunt, but I'd rather spend today in here with you. All cosy and stuff." He finishes the last sentence with a wink.

"You really are vile, I hope you know that." Twig unzips her sleeping bag and walks over to the entrance of their hollow. "I'm going to the lake. I feel gross." She doesn't wait for a response as she climbs out and walks the two hundred metres to the small lake on their spire. It's really so small it should be classed as a pond.

Twig takes off her jacket and begins to wash her arms, and splashes the water on her face. She takes off her boots and rolls her trousers up to her knees. She sits on the edge of the lake with her legs under the water. The sun breaks through the trees above as the day progresses and she leans back, taking in the beautiful weather.

It felt like hours, but can only have been a couple of minutes before Gale charges past her and cannonballs into the pond. In the second he dashed past her, Twig noticed he was wearing barely anything – no, he wasn't wearing _anything._The water flies over her as he impacts with its surface and she falls backwards with a scream. Gale comes back up for air a moment later.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Twig shouts, wiping the water from her face. At least her hair is a little cleaner now.

"Oh, you know, I'm _disgusting_." Gale smirks.

Twig has to avert her eyes to avoid accidentally getting a peek of his – nope, too late.

"Come in. It feels great!"

"I am not taking my clothes off on TV."

"Twig, come on. We might as well have fun whilst we're here. There's no guarantee that either of us will be going home. Not alive, at least."

"How do you know?"

"I just... I don't know. Just live while you can."

Twig contemplates the choice for a second. She opens up the maple leaf locket around her neck. Her little brother smiles back at her from inside. He's the only person she has left, and he's seen her naked plenty of times. And considering her chances, maybe Gale is right. Maybe she won't get out of this.

In a couple of minutes, she's joined Gale in the pond and the two engage in a waterfight. Gale's right: in a place like this, what else is there to do but live?

* * *

Sitting inside his boulder cave, Krush, District 11, waits patiently for what the day may bring. Truthfully, he would have liked to ally with his district partner, Ravena, but he never asked her. The girl is determined and strong, and she could have helped him in here. Not to mention she looks a lot like his sister. Krush's sister was killed by Peacekeepers after she broke a strict District 11 law.

His hand instinctively goes to his pocket. Her ribbon is still there. He sighs.

Only receiving a 5 in training put Krush out of his comfort zone. He'd always been good at things, so it was a shock. Now he has to work hard to earn sponsors. So after just three hours of sleep the night before, Krush gathers his things together and leaves the cave. He has to fight and impress the sponsors; maybe then he'll have a chance of getting out of this alive.

* * *

Ravena, on the other hand, is much more confident. She's on one of the few platforms covered in grass, with holes dotted here and there. She learned during the night that the holes are rabbit burrows. The little critters crawled out earlier this morning whilst she was on the platform leading to this one. Unfortunately she'd been too heavy-footed as she ran across the bridge and scared all of the rabbits back into their homes.

She currently sits in the centre of the platform, with a good view of the surrounding area. She needn't worry about surprise attacks.

In her backpack was a huge length of rope. This is where her hunting skills come in handy. She's already set up five or six snares at the entrance to the rabbits' burrows. As well as these, there are snares at each of the bridges. Ravena has everything worked out.

* * *

Around noon, the Careers finally wake up. Lokie is still reeling from Opal's strange murmurs. She hasn't decided whether or not to tell her allies about what she heard. A part of her feels sorry for the girl and wants to help her, but Lokie has her own family to return to. It's no concern of hers if Opal doesn't get home.

"Lokie?"

Golden snaps Lokie out of her thoughts.

"Huh, what? Sorry."

"I asked if you were coming? Alec, Flic and I are going hunting, the others are staying here."

Lokie looks over to Opal and Tinly. Opal fiddles with her token, a ring with koi carp etched into the sides.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Ciaran wakes when a spark hits his face. There's a clang, then frantic movement above him.

"Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit! Sorry man!" Franklin flusters about around him and tries to find water. He grabs it and throws it over Ciaran's face.

"What the fuck was that?!"

Franklin drops to his knees, panting. He gestures to his invention. The gauntlets lay dented on the ground.

"Oh, shit. I hope they still work." Franklin picks them up and picks at the wires inside. The circuit came apart, and that's what created the spark. "Okay, that should do it."

"Alright, brainiac, what've you done?"

"I'll show you, pick up your daggers."

"Dude you could've just killed me in my sleep if that's what you're doing."

"Ha. Just do it."

Ciaran gets up drowsily and walks to the backpacks, now openly strewn around their little camp. He roots through one and pulls out an apple, takes a bite and slips it into his pocket. Hanging out of the other are his push daggers. He clutches them between his fingers and assumes a battle stance. Franklin stands opposite him, slipping on the gauntlets.

"Okay, they should work now," Franklin says. He presses something inside each of them before putting them on.

"Come on then."

"I don't have to."

In half a second, the daggers are in Franklin's hands; or held by the gauntlets at least.

"Whoa. How did you do that?" Ciaran is just in awe.

Franklin taps a finger to his nose and his hair stands on end. He's unfazed by the static, though.

"Shocking, isn't it?"

Ciaran falls to the floor laughing.

* * *

Aspen is collecting edible plant leaves on his platform. Having gained such knowledge from living in District 7, he knows a great deal about which plants he can eat, and which he cannot. He worked some days with the lumberjacks, and occasionally the work would be in areas of dense plantation. Someone he knew had a bad run-in with some poison ivy. His skin never looked the same again. After that, Aspen dedicated a lot of time to studying plant life to avoid such a thing.

Suddenly, a squirrel leaps from the tree above him. Aspen is quick to react. His hatchet is lodged in the creature as it topples from the air.

It lands a couple of feet in front of him. He yanks his hatchet out and watches it bleed. Its blood is black. The thing was a mutt. But it hadn't tried to attack him, so it must be the Gamemakers tricking him.

Sometimes in the Games, regular animals are put in place to trick unwise tributes into eating them. If they're desperate enough to not inspect their kill, the tribute is in for a shock. Black blood means poison.

Aspen realises that this platform must be crawling with infected animals. Therefore he has no hope of getting food if he stays here, and he'll need it.

While collecting more edible plants, he decides to leave tomorrow.

* * *

It's been an hour or so since the other Careers left, and Opal and Tinly are at the Cornucopia, standing guard. Tinly has little to say. He's friendly enough, but he has trouble wording what he wants to say.

"So uh..." he starts. Opal turns to look at him. "Never mind."

Normally he's the funny one. His friends love him. His family loves him. But for some reason, being in here is putting him on edge. Though that's how everyone feels, he doesn't think that's how he should be acting. He's a Career. He should behave like one.

"Golden's kind of a tool, huh?"

Opal cocks an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He's like... he just... I don't know." Tinly looks down, solemn.

"Right. Well, I'm gonna go in there," Opal points her thumb towards the Cornucopia, "to get something to eat. You want anything?"

"No thanks. Don't be too long."

Opal nods, gets up and walks away, leaving her mace behind. She thinks Tinly's kind of weird. She doesn't understand why he can't form a proper sentence.

All the food is at the back of the Cornucopia, piled up in backpacks or small satchels. But she's not going that far back.

Along the left wall of the horn is a stack of weapons. Since there's a limited choice this year, the Careers had to practice with others in training. Opal found that she was most proficient with the push daggers, but didn't show that to the other Careers. She saved that for her private session.

Luckily, there are two at the bottom of the pile, away from everything else. She picks them up and clutches the handles firmly between her fingers.

Tinly still has his back turned, facing away from the Cornucopia, so he doesn't even see it coming. Opal jams the daggers into the sides of his neck and slices forward. The boy tries to grab the weapons but Opal has already pulled away. She smirks.

"Don't try to say anything. You wouldn't be able to anyway."

While Tinly struggles to breathe, Opal grabs a couple of backpacks and forces as much food water as she can into them. She also stuffs a bunch of first-aid equipment into one of them. She straps six daggers to her belt, including the two already bloodied ones, and drags the mace alongside her.

Tinly rolls around on the floor, hands on his neck. The blood drains from his face and his tongue flops out of his mouth. The cannon fires.

"Bye, kid," Opal says, leaping over his body and down the bridge leading in the opposite direction the other Careers left.

* * *

"I KNEW IT!" Lokie screams.

"What? What is it?" Golden turns to face her.

"I should have told you sooner. I knew she'd do this, I just knew it." Lokie walks around on the platform pulling at her hair.

"Lokie, calm down. What's happened? Who're you talking about?" Golden grabs her and shakes her by the shoulders.

"Opal! She was muttering a load of crap this morning about her Mom and I should have known she'd do this."

"You think that cannon was..." Flic can't even finish her sentence.

"I know it was." Lokie drops to her knees, feeling she has failed her allies.

"It's okay, Lokie." Golden puts his arms around her shoulders, embracing her tightly. "Flic, Alec, you're faster than us. Be on guard and don't do anything stupid."

The two of them nod and head back in the direction they came.

"Come on, _chérie_, get up." Golden lifts Lokie to her feet. It's standard that District 1 citizens be taught an ancient language, for some unknown reason.

"I'm sorry, Golden. I should have said something earlier."

"It's fine, honestly. Think of it as being one step closer to victory." Golden looks into her eyes and smiles.

"I guess. But if we catch up to her, I'm gonna cut that bitch to pieces."

"Well I don't know how you'll manage that with a shield but sure." Golden grins and keeps an arm around Lokie as they walk back to the Cornucopia.

* * *

Logane hears the cannon and starts shaking. She hopes beyond hope that it is one of the stronger tributes who has been taken down, though she doubts that entirely.

* * *

Opal has already traversed six platforms by the time her pursuers have reached the Cornucopia. Alec and Flic arrive just in time to see Tinly's body being carried away by the hovercraft. His head flops out in the open and drops from the claw, tearing from the final seam of skin. It seems to fall in slow motion. Flic turns and retches, bringing up her breakfast of apples and bread.

Tinly's head lands with a _thud! _at the Cornucopia's mouth. Another claw juts from the hovercraft and snatches it up like a greedy animal.

Flic gets her bearings again and looks out across the platform. Having trained and grown to attain keen eyesight, she spots Opal sprinting across a bridge. She goes to take chase but Alec grabs her wrist.

"Don't."

"Don't tell me what to do, fish stick."

"I'm telling you for your own safety. I know what Opal is capable of."

"And you don't think I could take her?"

"I know you couldn't."

Flic lifts her sword and starts to swing.

"Why you little-"

Alec raises his staff and whacks the girl across the face, knocking her backwards.

"Stop!" Golden shouts from a platform behind them. "We've already lost two of our allies today, do we need to lose another?"

Flic spits blood. Alec puts his hand out to help her up but she bats it away.

"Stay the fuck away from me." She storms off into the Cornucopia.

* * *

The sun sets quickly.

At the Career camp, only Lokie, Golden and Alec are talking around a fire. Flic is at the back of the Cornucopia. She refuses to speak to anyone who doubts her abilities.

* * *

Ravena waits patiently at the edge of her platform. She managed to cover all of the rabbit burrows with either a net or a snare, and still has some rope left over.

The first rabbit pokes its head out of the burrow and gets caught in a snare. It screams as the rope tightens around its neck and depletes the airflow to its lungs. In a moment or two, it goes limp. Ravena continues to wait.

After a while she realises the animal's squeal must have terrified its little friends and this is all she's going to have tonight. She lights a small fire with some of the dried grass on her shelf and cooks the rabbit.

* * *

A day in the sun has taken its toll on Twig and Gale, who have collapsed in a heap outside their hollow. Twig is still uncomfortable being too close to Gale so she's propped herself up against one the tree while he lies next to their fire. It's probably not wise to light a fire in a forest, but they're in a fairly wide clearing.

"I still don't like you," Twig says.

"I never asked you to," Gale replies.

He smirks in the firelight, but she doesn't see.

* * *

When the anthem plays, those hiding come out of their spots to find out who has been lost.

District 2 – Tinly

Audire grins. One Career down, five to go. He just needs to stay out of their way until then.

Logane squeals at the sight of Tinly, but quickly covers her mouth. She knows she shouldn't disrespect the dead. She's just relieved that she won't have to fight at least one of the Careers.

* * *

As stars crowd the sky, Opal keeps running. Her endurance is on point and she's not stopping until she's as far away from the Careers as she can possibly be. But she keeps thinking about what she did. She never thought she'd hurt someone without being provoked. Maybe his stupidity and lack of confidence was driving her nuts and she couldn't be bothered to listen to him anymore. Something washed over her and she didn't understand why or how.

Opal stops running. She's so drained of energy that she drops to the ground and sleeps, with no concern for the dangers of the night. But she should be. Printed on the platform is a gigantic blood-red cross.

'X' marks the spot.


	4. Day 3

Opal wakes with a start. Nightmares rattled her brain through the night. Visions of death tormented her; the deaths of her defenceless, wheelchair-bound mother, her father and her brother, her friends. But most significantly, most vividly, her own death.

The arena is still waking up. The sky is dimly lit as the sun has yet to rise. Opal stretches and yawns. She rubs her eyes and gazes about her. The platform seems as it did the previous night, no notable changes. She gets up and rummages through a backpack, pulling out an apple and biting into it, savouring the cool, juicy flavour.

Then she feels it.

Nothing.

Since the start of the Games, there had always been a breeze brushing over the arena. Whether you noticed it or not, it was there. Opal had found comfort in it because it reminded her of the ocean breeze she'd be greeted with on the beaches back in District 4, only without the familiar salty tang. But now it's gone. The air is still.

Opal walks to the edge of the platform, in hopes that the breeze will rush up to meet her.

Nothing.

"Okay, this is weird," she says to herself. She fiddles with her koi carp ring – a gift from her grandfather – whilst she figures out what to do. She could either stay here and wait until the wind decides to make an appearance, or leave the platform. There's a chance this could be a simple Gamemaker's trick, anyway.

The fair-haired girl decides upon the former.

"It's probably safer here, anyway."

She turns on the spot and starts to walk back to her possessions, but something catches her eye. It's huge, red, and intimidating. It's a sign of danger, something that could never mean good news. The massive crimson 'X' stares back at her, daring her to step forward. It dissects the platform into quarters. Opal immediately feels stupid for not noticing it sooner.

"Fuck," is all she can say. She charges for her items, weapons and all. A few unimportant food luxuries fall from a backpack, but she doesn't care. All she wants is to be of this deathtrap. Now.

Opal runs straight for the closest bridge. Something glows beneath her but she's too focused on her destination to notice. Once she's about two metres from the rickety structure, she hears the humming. But she's going too fast to stop and she knows what's coming. She's seen it happen before.

The forcefield collides with her body and she is hit with the burn. She screams as the pain courses over her skin. Then, a mere second later, she feels a rush of air. The ground jolts her as she bounces back over the platform, bruising as she goes. She pushes herself onto her hands and lets the backpacks slide from her shoulders. For a moment she's dazed, then the realisation hits her. She's trapped.

The sun peeps over the horizon and Opal covers her eyes to avoid the glare. A crackle sounds over the platform. It's faint, but Opal can hear it. She notices that the giant 'X' has disappeared. Maybe this is a signal that she's safe. Though she's made that assumption before and was wrong.

"Opal Loveguard, District 4."

She grabs the two bloodstained push daggers from her belt and prepares herself. The voice comes from nowhere in particular. But it's not the announcer.

"Don't worry, kid, _I'm_ not going to hurt you."

It's a voice she recognises, but can't quite place.

"This is a test, which... I'm sure you'll have no trouble passing."

"What do you mean?" Opal shouts.

"If you can survive the next five minutes you will, well, be alive. That's all I can tell you. Good luck, or goodbye, that's your choice." Another crackle follows.

"Wait, I-" she stops herself and sighs. "I fucking hate this place."

"Well how d'you think I feel?"

The voice comes from behind her. Opal whips around. The sight is something she never thought she'd see. It shocks her to the core. Her face pales. The daggers slip from her hands and clatter on the stone ground. Tears fill her eyes.

Her mother stands, literally, a few yards away.

"B-b-but how?" The first tear escapes and rolls lazily down Opal's cheek.

"They healed me. Those Capitolites are angels, I'm sure of it." Her mother's smile is as warm as it always had been. Where her skin had once seemed pale, translucent even, there is now a distinct mass of colour, of life. Her blue eyes still have their familiar glow of youth.

"I th-thought I had to w-win to get that for y-y-"

"Shh, sweetie, don't cry. Be grateful that I'm all fixed up."

"I-I-I..." Opal is still in disbelief. The dreams she'd escaped from not twenty minutes ago have taken a U-turn and given her the greatest possible outcome.

"I promise you, I'm fine. Just make it out of here and come back to me."

"I will, Mom, I w-will." Opal dabs her streaming tears with her jacket sleeve.

"Now come give me a hug, I've got to go." She cocks her head to the side and raises her arms to welcome her daughter.

Opal rushes over to her, caught up in the moment. Her mother holds Opal to her chest, smiling happily. Opal nuzzles into her mother's warm embrace.

"It's time to leave."

But Opal doesn't let go. She holds even tighter.

"Baby, what're you do- let go of me!"

Opal listens and listens. But there's not a sound. Nothing beating in this chest. No warmth as she'd felt before. It was all too good to be true. Slowly, she loosens her grip and backs away.

"You aren't my mother." The happy tears stop flowing and anger consumes Opal's voice.

The impostor walks towards her cautiously, her steps heavy. Opal picks up the daggers she dropped. She glances down to her belt where the four remaining daggers hang, waiting to be used. She unclips two of them and slips them up her sleeves. Fake Mother is smiling more evilly now, getting closer with every step. She flickers every couple of seconds and there's a hint of colour behind the human veil, though her true identity is indecipherable.

Opal dashes to the left and throws a dagger. Fake Mother is expecting it though. Her reflexes are sharp, there's no doubting that. She leaps into the air, propelled by the a scaly green tail which hadn't been there a moment ago. Opal looks up, trying to avoid the glare of the sun. Even the cameras are having a difficult time focusing.

A tearing sound can be heard as the thing hovers in midair. Something flutters to the ground in front of Opal. It's a flaky shell of some sort, fleshy and smooth. Skin. The mutt lands heavily, decorating the ground with cracks beneath its feet... paws?

Opal stares at it for a moment. It's enormous – at least twice her size – green and scaly, with big darting eyes and a line of small spikes down its spine. The tail curls upwards over itself. Atop its head is an emerald crest. The mouth is enormous, opening and closing to reveal a row of teeth which are clearly not to be underestimated. It resembles something she once saw in a book. Its name was hard to pronounce, but it definitely didn't belong in a place like this.

"What the..."

The creature responds only with a growl. It seems the voice disappeared with the illusion of her mother. But it's still smirking...

Suddenly, a great pink tongue flies from its mouth, dripping with sticky saliva. It catches only air, as Opal ducks and rolls sideways. She swipes up with both daggers but misses entirely. The tongue is already back home. The mutt's eyes dart around its head as Opal charges left and right trying to avoid its vision, to no avail. She gets within striking range and lashes out with a dagger. The weapon lodges between two scales and she can't pull it back out. She leaves it and leaps backwards to avoid the tail tearing through the air in her direction. This thing is fast.

The tongue makes another appearance and latches onto on of her daggers. Opal reaches out to grab the handle as it is pulled from her grasp, but has already been swallowed. She yanks another from her belt, breaking the clip, and charges forward while the tiny plastic pieces fall to the floor. Again she gets close enough to attack, but is worried she'll lose another weapon. The eye closest to her glows fiery, evil red. She remembers the beautiful, loving eyes that had been there a mere minute before.

From the corner of her own eye, she sees movement to her left. One of the creature's legs swipes forward and claws peek through the tips of its toes. They graze Opal's shin as she jumps to avoid the attack. She winces, but continues her assault. A slash here, a cut there, but none of them even dent its skin. The chameleon sits, toying with her, enjoying her failure. She knew they'd make this difficult, but to give her virtually no chance is just unfair.

It lunges with its claw again and she narrowly avoids another cut. No matter which side she is on, the eyes stare at her. They watch everything she does. Something clicks in Opal's mind and she has to dodge another whip from its tail to think clearly.

When she charges in for another bout of attacks, she switches targets. She cuts first along the scales, still not leaving a mark, then turns to face the eye dead-on.

"I see you," she says, with a mocking smirk. The dagger pierces the mutt's fleshy eye with little effort, spouting coal-coloured blood instantly. A horrifying screech emits from deep within its chest, as it flails about.

Opal is knocked backwards in the commotion. She manages to roll and avoid the swing of multiple limbs as the creature roars and stumbles over its enormous self. The other eye comes into view and she swings for it. The dagger comes into contact with its target and impales deeper than before. Blood drenches Opal's face. This blood isn't poisoned, luckily. At least the Gamemakers made one thing easy.

The blinded mutt roars and screams as it bleeds profusely from its wounds. Opal dashes out of the way but her foot is caught by something. Saliva seeps through her trouser leg and soaks her skin. She claws at the slippery surface but can't get a grip to pull it off. The creature has an unyielding hold on her. In a second it'll pull her into its mouth and devour her whole. Opal thinks quickly. Three daggers on her belt. A mace a metre away. _Entertain them._

She pulls the mace and lifts it above her head. It comes soaring down and digs into the tongue, which lets go of her leg as the creature rears its head once more. But its being pulled back in with Opal and the mace in tow.

The girl disappears inside the creature's gaping mouth. A second passes... five... ten... Nothing. The only audible sound is the screeching of the mutt.

Then a thud. And another. Then a rip, and a tear. Black blood pours from the side of the mutt's head as the maces tear through its flesh and Opal topples out onto the ground.

Opal swings and bashes the mutt around the head. It turns to face her, blinded and more terrifying than ever. Black blood gushes from its wounds. She swings again. It falls. She's alive. She stands panting over the corpse of the mutt, covered in blood, sweat and saliva.

"Congratulations, darli- Opal Loveguard."

That moment of hesitation was all she needed. The owner is revealed.

"Dad?"

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean, oh... crap."

"Dad, what're you doing here? What's going on?!"

"I can't say anything, I c-" there's a thud, and the voice goes quiet.

"Dad? Dad! DAD! DADDY!" Opal looks all around and shouts at the forcefield. The Capitol has her father, for some unknown reason. She grabs all of her belongings hastily. The hum of the forcefield dies and she tears across the closest bridge with no concern for the amount of noise she's making. She aims to finish this. Fast.

* * *

On the opposite side of the arena, Aspen is just waking up. He's running on almost no energy, having not eaten in over 12 hours now. The sun rises and the glares prevents him from seeing much at all. He shields his eyes and gathers his possessions. The forest platform is no longer a safe place to be, as he discovered yesterday.

As he crosses the bridge, the clouds beneath him part. He thinks for a moment that there will be an attack of some sort, but nothing happens. He carries on his way.

After another three platforms, he sees movement.

Krush, District 11, is approaching the same spire from the opposing bridge. Besides the shield hung across his back, he appears to be unarmed. Aspen, who doesn't see the kid as a threat, decides to run off back down his bridge and find another route. With any luck, Krush won't catch up – _his_ intentions are unclear.

Aspen keeps running, trying to make as little noise as possible. When he's far away enough that he's unable to see Krush, he slows down.

* * *

Twig wakes when she hears a splash. She sits upright and knocks her head on the roof of their hollow. Gale isn't inside, so she presumes that he's taking a swim. His whoops confirm her thoughts. She goes back to sleep thinking about him. About his toned body, and how attractive he'd looked on the chariots, the first time she'd seen him. She does have feelings for him, but being as stubborn as she is, she's afraid to admit it – even to herself.

Gale swims without caution. He knows that the Capitol aren't interested in a couple of tributes from outlying Districts who don't really do much.

He'd been quite the ladies' man back in District 9, so he plays up to the cameras and slips off his boxers. He swims across the surface off the lake with his bottom providing enough entertainment for the masses. If they weren't paying attention to him before, they would be now. He flips over and winks in the general direction of the nearest tree, knowing there'll be a camera or two on him.

If he keeps this up, the Gamemakers won't send trouble and he'll be safe with Twig.

He may have been a ladies' man, but he never kissed anyone. It was all just harmless flirting.

But with Twig... it means something. Maybe it's just the thought of being here, in the arena, where either one of them could die at any moment and either way he'd lose her. Or maybe it is just his hormones again. But he feels more for her than he has for anyone before.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ciaran and Franklin have left their spire. They've decided to journey out and see if they can find someone on whom to test Franklin's invention. This may seem like a dark premise for leaving their platform, but really, it's the only way to win the game.

"Dude, you got anything to eat?" Ciaran asks.

"Nah, I think we ate the last of our fruit yesterday." Franklin responds.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Hopefully we'll run into someone with something to eat."

"Either that or we'll have to eat who we kill."

Franklin gives Ciaran a worried look, but the District 3 boy just laughs.

* * *

Ravena left her snares outside the rabbit holes overnight, and managed to catch a few more of the poor creatures. She's cooking up breakfast when she sees something approaching in the distance. The sun is in her eyes, so she has to squint to get a better look.

From where she's sitting, it looks like a small bird, probably a pigeon that's flown too high or something. She dismisses it and turns back to her food.

Then there's a screech. An evil, gut-wrenching sound.

Ravena stops munching and grabs the push daggers from her backpack. At least she's got the energy to fight now.

She stands up and gazes around, to find that the whatever-it-was has disappeared. She breathes a sigh of relief.

But it's still there.

The enormous whatever-it-is leaps from the side of her spire and onto the platform. It's a huge, terrible beast with three heads and a varicoloured body. One head is reptilian, with horns. The middle is golden, with a mane around its face and huge teeth. The third is a goat, quite simply, but its eyes are ruby red. The wings on its back are green and scaly, so are obviously a product of the first beast. The front legs are clawed while the back two have hooves. It's a magnificent, yet terrifying sight to behold.

Ravena stares it dead in the eye, unmoved by the terror rising within her. She knows what the Gamemakers are trying to do, and she won't be deterred from her safe haven.

The scaly head rears and Ravena only has a moment to dodge the stream of fire it spews from its mouth. She rolls sideways and charges forward, aiming for what she presumes is the weakest head: the goat. It bleats as she arrives, and a gross, purple liquid seeps from its mouth, dripping to the grass below. The grass burns on contact, and Ravena realises she can't get too close. She dodges to meet the middle face, which roars ferociously in greeting. It bares a huge, sharp grin before lunging forward. Ravena cuts upward with her push dagger and forces the blade through the neck of the golden beast. It droops and stops moving. One down.

Once again, the reptilian head throws fire from its open mouth. Ravena winces as the stream burns her forearm, but not too severely. The goat head bleats once more and spits poison at the ground. It burns right through Ravena shoe and starts to work its way through her foot.

She screams and falls to the ground as the mutt pins her with its paw. It drags its claw down across her body, tearing deep into her flesh.

Suddenly, it pulls away and roars/bleats in pain. Ravena can just about see through the tears she's wracked with, that one of the mutts wings has been torn and is bleeding heavily. It turns to face the culprit, and Ravena follows its gaze. Standing at the edge of her spire is Aspen, second hatchet poised to be thrown.

"Don't hurt me, please!"

Aspen ignores her and throws his weapon. It buries itself in the reptilian head of the mutt. Two down.

The goat turns and tries to fly away, dripping poison all over Ravena's wounds. Aspen runs across the platform, dodging burrows here and there, and leaps onto the mutt's back. He slices the working wing from its body and claws his way up to the final head. It bleats maniacally as he hacks into its skull. With one final screech, it drops to the floor and disintegrates into a pool of black blood.

Ravena pants and tries to get up. Aspen stands over her.

"Please," she begs.

Aspen says nothing, but pulls the backpack from his shoulder. He gets out a roll of bandages and a small pack of healing cream. Ravena wonders where he got the cream, since they don't usually put it in the Games, but is in too much pain to ask. He bandages her up, for the most part, but there is nothing he can do about her foot. It's so damaged that there is barely any skin, or muscle, and you can see right through to the bone.

Once he's done, Ravena thanks him, but he leaves her and runs off before she can have a second thought. In the whole time Aspen was there, he didn't utter a word.

* * *

Still rather well hidden, Audire waits for the day to pass. He's uncertain whether any more Careers will die today, though he hopes things will work in his advantage and that will happen. He's never really thought of himself as a killer, but the Games change people.

Audire's mother is part of the council in District 8, so she works for the mayor and doesn't spend much time with her son. His father, well... Audire doesn't have a clue who he is. Having been brought up in an unloving home, he didn't really adjust well to society, and so he doesn't have many friends. But maybe winning the Games will change that. Maybe people will talk to him. Maybe his mother will actually care. Maybe, just maybe, his father will come forward and claim Audire as his son.

_Unlikely_, Audire thinks. Besides, first he has to survive for any of that to happen.

* * *

At the Cornucopia, the remainder of the Career pack plans out their day.

"Personally, I think we need to hunt down that bitch Opal," Flic says. After being shamed yesterday, she wants to prove that she's better than the 7 she received in training.

"I agree, she deserves to suffer." Lokie also feels a need to prove herself after making the foolish decision against informing her allies of Opal's other intentions.

Alec remains silent. His thoughts are elsewhere. He knows that Opal is much stronger than she appears, having spent copious amounts of time training with her back in District 4. The two actually got along quite well at one point. He may have even been attracted to her. After all, she's quite a beautiful girl.

"Let's go then. Gather some crap and we'll leave," Golden commands. After electing himself leader of the Career pack, he realised it came with a lot more pressure than he first presumed. The loss of an ally is worse than anything, so he aims to keep his friends alive until the end.

* * *

Krush spotted Aspen around midday. He saw the boy helping Ravena fight off the mutt. He also witnessed the healing that followed, but ran back in the opposite direction because he couldn't bear facing his district partner. That should have been him, or at least he hoped so. He's currently retracing his steps along bridges he's already crossed, passing rocks he's seen before and spires and platforms he's already familiar with.

The sun is high. The heat is making him drowsy. Every so often he'll walk with his eyes closed, but always keeps his ears alert. He hears the caw of a bird, the gravelly stones shifting under his feet, the _thud, thud, thud_ of footsteps on a bri-

"Hey, kid!"

Krush's eyes snap open. The sun crosses his vision and makes things harder to see. Across the platform, he sees two figures running towards him. Two boys. One of them has enormous hands...

"Hey!"

They get closer. Krush drops his backpack and roots around for his weapons. Underneath a bunch of apples are his two push daggers. He holds them as he was taught in training and reaches up to his shoulder to ensure his shield is still there.

As he stands up, the boys come into view. One throws something and Krush whips around just in time for the dagger to bounce off his shield with a clang. He turns and throws one of his own, but it glides in the direction of the other boy, who catches it with ease.

* * *

Ciaran and Franklin have him cornered. It's two on one, but he's putting up a fight. Franklin wears the magnetised gauntlets and already has one of Krush's weapons. Neither of them remembers his name, but does that even matter here? No one remembers the dead kids.

Franklin nods to his ally and both of them charge. Their opponent surges forward to catch them halfway. He slides across the stone floor and knocks Ciaran off his feet. But he's close enough that his second dagger slips from his hand and flies right into Franklin's waiting gauntlet. Krush gets up and runs away from the pair. Ciaran takes chase and throws a dagger at his back, only to watch it bounce off again.

"Don't be stupid, man, that didn't work before!" Franklin shouts, throwing one of his own.

It lodges in Krush's left shin, but he keeps running. The wound slows him down, and he has to yank the blade from his leg to speed himself up. With a slight limp, he reaches the bridge. He stops in his tracks and turns to meet his foes.

They're too accelerated to slow down.

He crouches and kicks to the left with his good leg whilst swinging the opposite way with his shield. His leg collides with Franklin's ankles, sending him toppling forward. He falls from the platform and disappears from sight. Ciaran is about to call for his friend, but the shield impacts his stomach and winds him. Whilst Ciaran clutches his stomach, Krush gets to his feet painfully.

"Well, you tried," he says, kicking Ciaran square in the nose. The District 3 boy falls backwards and can do nothing while Krush stands over him, shield raised, ready to come crashing down. Blood pours from his nose into his mouth, and he feels something on his tongue. He spits out a tooth. Krush swings his shield and Ciaran flies sideways, more blood gushing from his face. He skids across the stone with a nasty crunch. His ear hangs loose, threatening to fall off.

"Oh, let me finish that for you." Krush comes closer and yanks the ear from its place. More blood spouts from the side of Ciaran's head.

"Y-you fucking..." he tries to speak but he's lost too much blood and become light-headed.

"What was that?" Krush walks forward, still limping.

"I think he was gonna call you a bastard."

Krush turns on his heels as the dagger comes slicing across his eyes. The dagger comes about again and cuts across his neck twice, before impaling his chest. A huge, metallic fist pounds his gut and sends him soaring across the platform. He screams in a horrid combination of choked, winded and blinded terror as his life drains away.

"Keep your eyes open next time, kid."

The cannon booms.

Franklin helps Ciaran to his feet. He gathers all of Krush's food items into one of their own backpacks and drags his friend to safety.

* * *

The Careers stop in their tracks when they hear the cannon. They're all hoping that the cannon signified Opal's death, though they'd have liked to cause her pain rather than let some other tribute do it for them. Nonetheless, there's still tributes to be killed, whether they're Opal or not. They continue travelling throughout the day, encountering nothing but rock and bridges for quite a while.

Flic needs to get home to her brother and sisters. They no longer have parents, so it's not like she can leave her brother alone to take care of her younger siblings. That being the case, she feels obligated to take Opal down. She contemplates taking down Alec, too.

* * *

In her boulder hideout, Logane hears voices, two female and two male. She knows it's the Careers. No alliance is ever as big as theirs. She quietly gathers her things into a corner and covers herself with her sleeping bag. The dark material will give her cover in the shade of her den.

"Guys, did you hear that?" Logane recognises the voice of the girl from District 1.

"What?" Her district partner.

"It came from over there, by those boulders." She replies.

"Flic, go check it out," the boy commands.

The footsteps which approach are lighter, and faster. Logane holds her breath and tries to stop shaking. She knows any sign of movement will give her away. The slap of shoe on stone is close now. Scratching and the sound of someone scrambling through the entrance to her cave is audible. Logane listens carefully as Flic walks around, half-crouched, inside her secret place. Her hammer drags along the ground and makes a horrible grinding noise. Logane winces.

"There's nothing here guys." Flic hasn't seen her.

"Keep looking, I'm sure I heard something," the other girl calls back.

"Yes," then, whispered, "your royal fucking highness."

Logane keeps her breath held and thinks of her mother. _Be brave. _If Logane was anything like her mother, she'd fight, but right now she can't afford to do that. Flic is just a few feet away again, squinting in the darkness. A few more seconds and Logane will have to open her mouth to breathe. The scrape of shoes fades as Flic walks away.

"Nope, nothing here." Flic is outside. Logane takes an almost inaudible deep breath and remains silent.

"Let's keep going," the boy says.

Logane stays under her sleeping bag. Their footsteps fade into the distance. Once she's certain they're gone, she pushes the sleeping bag off. Slowly, she creeps to the hole of light leading outside. All she hears is the wind. She's safe, for now. She breathes a sigh of relief and falls against the side of the cave wall, grinning.

* * *

The day progresses and the tributes look for other safe places. Audire and Logane stay in their separate caves.

Ravena, having managed to stand and walk, has limped her way to another spire, albeit just half a mile away from her previous location. She collapses into some bushes and covers herself in leaves. Hopefully the camouflage will hide her for the night.

* * *

At around mid-afternoon, Aspen stops on a grassy platform with a small pool of water in its centre. It could pass for a pond, but the water is dirty and he has nothing to cleanse it with. Luckily he still has water from the forested platform, so he should be alright for a while. But he needs food. He has eaten nothing all day and is running out of energy fast.

He turns to leave the platform as something slithers over his foot. A large, green snake slides out of the water and makes its way past him. It seems unconcerned by Aspen's appearance at its home, and carries on its way. Aspen thinks quickly. This snake wouldn't be here if there wasn't something to eat. He follows the slippery reptile around the spire for a while in hopes that there will be mice or rats or... anything.

Then something comes to mind. He lets the creature slither away once more and pulls a hatchet from his bag. He throws it and slices the snake's head clean off. Having been forced away by poisoned animals before, he's cautious of this one. He makes his way round to the wound. The blood is regular. No black, no poison. He almost jumps and cheers before remembering where he is and stopping himself. He leaves the spire and drags the snake along in one hand, keeping the bloodied hatchet in another.

He stops at yet another grassy platform as the sun begins to set. With some leaves from the bushes here, he strikes up a small fire and cuts up his kill. He cooks some, and wraps up the rest in leaves, for later. As soon as he's finished eating, he stamps out his fire and sleeps in the bushes.

* * *

Gale and Twig have spent the day relaxing once more. They know it's stupid, that this won't last, but they're going to enjoy it while they can. Besides, there are plenty of other tributes for the Capitol to entertain themselves with.

"You think we'll have to leave tomorrow?" Gale asks.

"Either that or they'll make us leave," Twig says.

"Well, I think we ought to split up then."

"What, why?"

"I... I can't hurt you."

Twig laughs. "You what? You were willing to kill Raysha but you can't hurt a girl half your size? You're scared of me, aren't you?"

"It's not that... It's... I..."

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." Twig gets up and walks back to their hollow. Gale stands and follows her. He grabs her wrist and turns her around to face him.

"What do you w-" Twig is interrupted as Gale kisses her. Twig is shocked, but lets it happen. Gale holds the back of her head with one hand and places the other on the small of her back. If Twig was going to protest at any point, she'd have done it the moment their lips touched. But she's still there. It turns out that maybe she does like him after all.

* * *

The Careers have discovered the same platform Aspen reached the previous day. Golden suggests they stay here a while. He says it's for them to regain their energy and be ready to face Opal, but it's clear he wants to spend some time with Lokie.

His district partner sits with her shoes off, soothing her feet in the lake.

"How you feeling?" Golden says, plopping down next to her.

"Tired. Want to go home. Want to kill a bitch. Same old, same old. You?" Lokie turns and smiles at him.

"Same, really. But it's nice here. It's nice to have a break for a change and relax, you know?"

"You call this relaxing? Being hunted by a bunch of kids who hate us just for training for this and actually having to kill others is _relaxing_? You're crazy, Golden."

"Not that. I mean, here, in a place as beautiful as this." Golden gestures around him, admiring the scene. It really is quite dazzling.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I just wish the Capitol would cut us some slack."

The cameras tune out.

* * *

Panem's anthem signifies the reveal of what's on the tributes' minds: the identity of the mystery tribute who met their end today. His face is shown.

District 11 - Krush

* * *

Opal continues to run. She's come across no one all day. She knows the Careers are still after her, and she needs to get away. Even with this continued rush of adrenaline, she wouldn't be able to beat them.

So even after the sun goes down, she's still propelling forward at an alarming pace. She charges over the blood-stained spire where, just hours before, Krush was brutally murdered. She whizzes past the bush that Ravena is sleeping in, and another which contains a dozing Aspen. None of those people are her concern, she's focused on an entirely different enemy. She needs to find the two cleverest people in here. District 4 requires power and technology.


End file.
